The Thirty Percent Project

Jonathan co-authored a book on water use on Maui called “Water and Power in West Maui”, and was on the board of the Hawai‘i State Land Use Commission for 11 years. As we talk in depth about land use in Hawai‘i over the centuries, we delve into some specifics about what changes are needed now to restore local food production to a meaningful percent, from conservation easements to land trusts to mindsets, and more. 

 We pegged our discussion of the history of land and power in Hawai‘i, to the  generational markers of my family -- the Daniels family of Maui.  

Mentioned:

• Jonathan’s book, Water and Power in West Maui

In addition: 

• Jonathan Scheuer’s bio
• The Civil Beat Editorial Board Interview: LUC Chair Jonathan Likeke Scheuer (June, 2022)
• Public Trust Presentation at Hawai‘i State Land Use Commission (May 14, 2022)
• Hawai‘i Public Radio Interview regarding Scheuer's book on water rights in Maui (2021)
• What Does Sustainable Yield Sustain? What (and Who) is Left Out?  (2021)

Credits: 

Created, produced, and hosted by Paula Daniels

Sound engineer: Keola Iseri
Project support: Sue Woodard

Theme music: Caryssa Shinozawa
Other music: "Monomer" by Leroy Wild, “Sugar Cane Train”, “Makapu‘u Pali”, “Kolekole”, “Waolani Dusk 3”, “Waimea Hale”, “Waolani Dusk Original” by Pacific Sounds

Logo: Reiko Quitevis, Sue Woodard

Thanks to our sponsor, the Hawai‘i Institute for Sustainable Community Food Systems at the University of Hawai‘i - West O'ahu

Thanks also to the students at Waipahu High School for sound creation (Caryssa Shinozawa, Landon Guzman, Syd Sausal) and graphic design (Ashley Alfaro, Erika Pagtulingan, Reiko Quitevis); and their teachers, Noelle- lili Edejer and Sky Bruno.

Created, produced, and hosted by Paula Daniels

Mahina Paishon-Duarte is co-founder and chief executive officer of Waiwai Collective, a regenerative urban oasis, a kīpuka, for creatively growing community, culture, and commerce. As a social entrepreneur who has also led several educational and cultural organizations, her vision and mission are one and the same––to catalyze positive, lasting change for Hawaiʻi in one generation. Most notably, Mahina is the founding executive director of Paepae o Heʻeia, the first modern Hawai‘ian fishpond that created ground-breaking ʻāina-based education programming for students from preschool through post-doctoral levels. She gained public sector experience as a policy program manager with NOAAs Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, as well as head of school for both Hālau Kū Māna and Kanu o ka ʻĀina public charter schools. Today, Mahina is a part of the ʻĀina Aloha Economic Futures movement to address long-standing socio-economic inequities that the COVID-19 pandemic underscored; and to bring to life a resilient economy through our core value of ʻāina aloha—a deep and abiding love for Hawaiʻi’s communities and natural environments.

In our conversation, we discuss: radical aloha;  what it means to have ‘āina based thinking; her recent appointment by the Governor of Hawai‘i to the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority, and their strategic plan for regenerative tourism; and, the need for a governance structure, such as a food policy council, to help achieve Hawai‘i’s goal of increasing local food production. 

Mahina graciously accepted my request to begin our conversation with a pule (aspirational chant).

For more info on Mahina: 

• Transformational Change with Mahina Paishon Duarte (Seminar, July 2022)
• Indigenous Centered Economies: Leading the Way (TED Talk, November 2021)
• An Open Letter To The Millionaires And Billionaires Of Hawaii (Civil Beat, July 2020)

Mahina’s suggested reading: 

• From a Native Daughter: Colonialism and Sovereignty in Hawai‘i (Revised Edition)
  by Haunani-Kay Trask (1999, University of Hawai’i Press)
• Kaiāulu: Gathering Tides
• By Mehana Blaich Vaughan (2018, Oregon State University Press)

Credits: 

Created, produced, and hosted by Paula Daniels

Sound engineer: Keola Iseri
Project support: Sue Woodard

Theme music: Caryssa Shinozawa
Other music: "Monomer" by Leroy Wild, “Waialua By Night” by Pacific Sounds

Logo: Reiko Quitevis, Sue Woodard

Thanks to our sponsor, the Hawai'i Institute for Sustainable Community Food Systems at the University of Hawai'i - West O'ahu

Thanks also to the students at Waipahu High School for sound creation (Caryssa Shinozawa, Landon Guzman, Syd Sausal) and graphic design (Ashley Alfaro, Erika Pagtulingan, Reiko Quitevis); and their teachers, Noelle- lili Edejer and Sky Bruno. 

Created, produced, and hosted by Paula Daniels

Dr. Noa Lincoln is Associate Professor in Indigenous Crops and Cropping Systems at University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa and the Principal Investigator of the Indigenous Cropping Systems Laboratory. He is also a farmer and works with his wife on an ‘ulu (breadfruit) farm on Hawai‘i Island, as part of the Hawai‘i ‘Ulu Cooperative which they founded. 

We have a wide ranging and deep dive discussion about: the distinction between European and Hawai‘ian cosmology in relationship to earth; the impacts of foreign investment in Hawai‘i;  the true value of community based agriculture; the benefit of cooperative and collaborative farming enterprises; and the need to reconfigure the social, finance, land use and hard  infrastructure from the legacy of large scale, export based plantation agriculture to more localized infrastructure; and, we brainstorm some policy interventions as we touch on global economic issues and biocomplexity. 

In other words, we get right to the nub of the matter. And it starts with the remarkable story of why his current position at the University of Hawai‘i was created. 

For more info:

• Dr. Noa Lincoln’s bio
• Indigenous Cropping Systems Laboratory 
  Dr. Noa Lincoln’s laboratory website, including publications and other sources)
• A social network analysis of individuals and organizations engaged in local food production and food access in Hawai’i 
• Hawai’i ‘Ulu Cooperative
  An ‘ulu (breadfruit) cooperative on Hawai’i island, founded and managed by Dr. Noa Lincoln’s wife, Dana Shapiro

Credits: 

Created, produced, and hosted by Paula Daniels

Sound engineer: Keola Iseri
Project support: Sue Woodard

Theme music: Caryssa Shinozawa
Music: "Monomer" by Leroy Wild, “Makapu‘u Pali”, “Waialua By Night”, “Kolekole”, “Kaaawa Ranch” by Pacific Sounds

Logo: Reiko Quitevis, Sue Woodard

Thanks to our sponsor, the Hawai‘i Institute for Sustainable Community Food Systems at the University of Hawai‘i - West O‘ahu

Thanks also to the students at Waipahu High School for sound creation (Caryssa Shinozawa, Landon Guzman, Syd Sausal) and graphic design (Ashley Alfaro, Erika Pagtulingan, Reiko Quitevis); and their teachers, Noelle- lili Edejer and Sky Bruno.

Created, produced, and hosted by Paula Daniels

In this inaugural episode, we have the benefit of an illuminating conversation with Kamuela Enos, the director of the newly formed Office of Indigenous Innovation at the University of Hawaiʻi. Before that, Kamuela was director of social enterprise at MAʻO Organic Farms. Born and raised in Waiʻanae, he comes from a family of cultural practitioners and farmers committed to sustainable agriculture. A vocal advocate for innovative educational approaches that serve all learners, Enos has turned his lived experiences into a successful post-secondary academic career. He has an undergraduate degree in Hawaiian Studies and a master’s degree in urban and regional planning from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

With Kamuela, we delve deeply into the refreshed perspective he brings on the layering or infusion of valuable ancestral practices into modern society. We discuss the importance of being rooted in a respectful relationship with the earth; and, his experience working with Maʻo Organic Farms and its mission to bring health and economic empowerment to the local community, through a re-connection to community based and sustainable farming practices

We begin with a chant well known in Hawaiʻi called E Ho Mai. This oli, or chant, is often used at the beginning of an event or special gathering to help focus energies and properly receive wisdom.

For more info: 

• The University of Hawaiʻi Center for Indigenous Innovation and Health Equity
• “$1M for UH center to advance Indigenous innovation to improve NHPI health”  by University of Hawaii News
• Maʻo Organic Farms
• PBS Hawaiʻi Interview on Long Story Short with Leslie Wilcox (April 2018)

Credits: 

Created, produced, and hosted by Paula Daniels

Sound engineer: Keola Iseri
Project support: Sue Woodard

Theme music: Caryssa Shinozawa
Other Music: "Monomer" by Leroy Wild, “Kamaniki”, “Sugar Cane Train”, “Makapuʻu Pali” by Pacific Sounds

Logo: Reiko Quitevis and Sue Woodard

Thanks to our sponsor, the Hawai'ʻ Institute for Sustainable Community Food Systems at the University of Hawaiʻi - West Oʻahu

Thanks also to the students at Waipahu High School for sound creation (Caryssa Shinozawa, Landon Guzman, Syd Sausal) and graphic design (Ashley Alfaro, Erika Pagtulingan, Reiko Quitevis); and their teachers, Noelle- lili Edejer and Sky Bruno. 

Created, produced, and hosted by Paula Daniels

Why I’m doing this podcast and what I hope listeners will get from it – as told in a tables-turned-on-me interview by my niece, Noelani.

For more info, and some of my published work: 

The website of the Center for Good Food Purchasing, which I co-founded;  the Center is a spin off from the LA Food Policy Council, which I founded and incubated during my time as Senior Advisor on Food Policy to Mayor Villaraigosa of Los Angeles. 

A book I co-edited: True Cost Accounting for Food: Balancing the Scale. (2021, Routledge).  Edited By Barbara Gemmill-Herren, Lauren E. Baker, Paula A. Daniels.This book explains how True Cost Accounting is an effective tool we can use to address the pervasive imbalance in our food system.

Selected articles and book chapters:

"How Cities Can Build Food System Resilience" (December 2022) In TheCityFix, I write about the leadership role that cities  play in creating a healthier, more sustainable and more resilient food system. 

“True Cost of School Meals: School Meals Case Study” (November 2021). I co-authored this case study with the Rockefeller Foundation, applying a true cost accounting methodology to US school meals programs, and forecasting the net positive impacts if there were a shift to local suppliers, among other shifts, for 30% of food purchasing in these programs. 

“Investing in a Good Food Future” (May 2020, Medium;  reprinted in the e-book compilation, Resilience Matters: Reimagining the Future in a Tumultuous Year. [2021, Island Press, edited by Mazur, L.]) we provide recommendations on public policy investments for a “Good Food” system — one that is rooted in community resilience, equity, sustainability, and health

“What Hurricanes Warn Us About the Future of Food” (September 2018, Medium; reprinted in the book “Resilience Matters: Strengthening Communities in an Era of Upheaval”  [2019, Island Press, edited by Mazur, L.]). My thoughts about some key priorities for Hawai’i in developing a more localized food system, and why it’s necessary.  

“Designing a Renewable Food System” (January 2017, Stanford Social Innovation Review).  My essay comparing the renewable energy trajectory to a pathway for food system reform. 

“Domestic Farmed Fish Production: an overview of governance and oversight in the US aquaculture industry,” (2015, Routledge). A book chapter in the book Political Ecologies of Meat, edited by Emel, J. and Neo, H.

Created, produced, and hosted by Paula Daniels